Display tank interbreeding... Likely???

[Magnum Man]

caffeine morning thoughts... just curious on the likelihood of mixed breeding in display tanks... just for example, in my Asian tank, I have "a lot" of Hillstream loaches... lots of different species, but several different varieties, within species... I am looking at adding a small group of Gold Ring Hillstreams ( Sewellia albisuera )... & I have several other Sewellia varieties in the tank already... my intention is not in breeding these fish, it's to have as many varieties as I can in one place, to view, & see the differences, & similarities but in trying to make everything "perfect" for the fish, & provide a healthy diet for them, I am likely to see "the dance" ( I do in other tanks ) just wondering if / how often different varieties find each other acceptable to mate with, when there are others of their own variety in the same tank???

BTW... I usually buy these in groups of 3 or more, as they are smaller fish

Sewellia's in my tank

Gold Ring... ( coming ) Sewellia albisuera

& Reticulated Sewellia lineolata

 

[Magnum Man]

To be specific, I currently have these, already in the tank... Sewellia lineolata...

I actually thought a couple others were Sewellia, but apparently those are Gastromyzon's & turns out I have more varieties of those right now, than I do the Sewellia... same question though, as I assume the Gastromyzon's could interbreed between their varieties

Gastromyzon's... I currently have this one... this one is just listed as Gastromyzon sp... but I expect it's a Gastromyzon cf. punctulatus

on my want list... Gastromyzon zebrinus

this one is just listed as Gastromyzon sp... and I can't find a listing more specific

this one is also just listed Gastromyzon sp. "Bloody Mary"

and then there are the wild cards... Beaufortia kweichowensis
... I have a group of these, & they look quite capable of breeding with the other two...

 

[Essjay]

I assume the Gastromyzon's could interbreed between their varieties

Do you mean variety or species?

Different variety would be gold rams, German blue rams and wild rams being different coloured Microgeophagus ramirezi, while different species in the same genus would be rams, Microgeophagus ramirezi and Bolivian rams, Microgeophagus altispinosus. With a few exceptions, different species don't interbreed, but different varieties of the same species can and do interbreed.

Do you know the Latin names for each of your hillstream loaches?

 

[Magnum Man]

@Essjay ...I went back & added the Latin names as best I could, to the pictures above...

... & sorry, I need to revisit the names... Class, Species, Variety???

 

[Colin_T]

As a general rule, most fish will try to breed with their own kind if possible when kept in a mixed species tank. If you only have 1 fish from a species and it's in a tank with another closely related species, they will breed and the eggs or young could be viable or sterile. Normally though they prefer to breed with their own kind. Some common livebearers like guppies will breed with your hand if you stick it in the water so they can be dismissed as randy little sods. But normal fish will try to breed with their own kind.

 

[Magnum Man]

thanks, I typically buy in groups of 3, just so I don't put the fish in that situation... also being in a community set up, there is normally a predetation of any eggs or fry... some time in the future, I might want to breed something, but then, they would have to have formed a strong bond, & endure the stress of being moved to a breeding tank, probably something a "one night stand" wouldn't hold up to...

 

[Essjay]

The Gastromyzon fish with no proper species name could by a variant of one of the others. With no proper Latin name it's impossible to say. If they are just a variant of another one of your fish, yes they could interbreed.

Loaches Online lists 13 Gastromyzon species including such species 'names' as unknown01, unnkown02 though to unknown05. Amongst those with proper species names they list G. zebrinus and G. punctatus as a synonym of G. ctenocephalus.

Loach Species Index (Alphabetical) — Loaches Online

www.loaches.com

 

[Magnum Man]

it gets pretty challenging, when I look on Seriously Fish, under Gastromyzon ctenocephalus.

this is the gallery... a rainbow of colors... & mine is just black, withy cream color dots...

Gastromyzon ctenocephalus — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[Essjay]

In the case of loaches, I'd go with the specialist site Loaches Online rather than Seriously Fish which is a general fish site.

 

[Magnum Man]

Just looking a little, the Loaches site offers a link, to "looks similar to" & I don't think my black spotted ones are "ctenocephalus" the link takes me to "scitulus" which looks closer to mine specifically... but with these fish so hard to tell apart for me, makes me wonder if they might breed???

 

[GaryE]

If you are serious about breeding, you separate the species to breed them. It's rare for fry to survive in community tanks. Two closely related species can cross, especially if they are close but don't meet in nature. All varieties of a species can cross.

But community tank breeding usually has no results, and whether the loaches cross is case by case.

 

[Magnum Man]

Oh my… ran across this listing today… isn’t he pretty….

 

[Colin_T]

thanks, I typically buy in groups of 3, just so I don't put the fish in that situation... also being in a community set up, there is normally a predetation of any eggs or fry... some time in the future, I might want to breed something, but then, they would have to have formed a strong bond, & endure the stress of being moved to a breeding tank, probably something a "one night stand" wouldn't hold up to...

Most fish aren't monogamous and are into the one night stand. Some cichlids will pair up for life or the pr could separate if they don't work well together. But for most other types of fish, it's breed with whoever is here at the time. Some fish will have preferences for their partners but normally it's a free for all especially if that particular partner isn't around.

Most breeders will grab any male and female and put them in the breeding tank and let them do their thing.

If you want fish for breeding, try to get a group of 8 to 10+ individuals so there is a good chance of getting both sexes. If you only get 3, you could end up with 3 males or 3 females. If you get 2 males and a female (or vice versa) and the female dies, you are left with 2 males.

 

[Magnum Man]

Well like I said before… not trying to breed anything right now but perhaps in the future, when, and if life slows down a little